


all was fair in love (and they'd had enough war to last a lifetime)

by femvimes



Category: Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: Date Night, Fluff, M/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-29
Updated: 2017-12-29
Packaged: 2019-02-23 11:07:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13188774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/femvimes/pseuds/femvimes
Summary: Post the events of Pacific Rim, Newt and Hermann decide to give this dating thing a try while they're still stationed in Hong Kong. Hermann picks the activity, Newt picks the restaurant.





	all was fair in love (and they'd had enough war to last a lifetime)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [freckleheckler](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=freckleheckler).



> For the 2017 Tumblr Pacific Rim Holiday swap. This fic also has a playlist! https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVLToUfaZRnO3CK5VxFQBURAcV5ShKE-r

Hermann Gottlieb was not in the habit of dressing for other people. If he was, he would have stopped wearing his “ugly grandpa clothes” several years ago. He liked his outfit choices. But tonight he stood in front of his small closet and clicked his tongue. He was out of date night clothes.

It didn’t take long after the aversion of the apocalypse for Newt to start pestering Hermann about dating. It wasn’t that Hermann didn’t want to date Newton—quite the opposite—but it had to be done properly. He didn’t want their first date to be spur of the moment. Newt didn’t seem to care. Wherever they went, whether to get coffee from the mess hall or to run errands around Hong Kong, he would ask Hermann,

“Is this a date? Are we on a date right now?”

After the third or fourth instance of this, Hermann banged his cane on the ground and said,

"Newton, I don’t want to hear another word about this.”

Newt’s lips trembled. “But—”

“You will meet me at Kam Sushi at 7 pm on Friday night. Don’t be late, and dress nicely.”

Newt just stood there, a stream of happiness babbling out of his mouth. Hermann stalked away. Ever since then, they’d taken turns planning dates each week. Hermann leaned towards fancy restaurants and museums, while Newt had once taken them to look at buildings made of Kaiju bones. Tonight they had each been responsible for planning one part of the date: Hermann the activity, and Newton the restaurant. Hermann was confident that Newt was going to love his location. He was a bit nervous about ending up in a black metal bar at the end of the night, though.

Hermann ended up putting on a light blue button-down and a long cream-colored cardigan that he was sure had once belonged to his sister. It was one he didn’t wear very often, so Newt probably hadn’t seen it. Then again, Newt had a startling memory for his outfits. How he could remember what Hermann had worn the week before and forget to eat lunch was a mystery.

They had arranged to meet at the visitor entrance to the Shatterdome. It was one of the cleanest parts of the main floors. A few J-Techs in their leather jackets were milling around and chatting. Planning on going out clubbing, no doubt. There had been a lot of partying lately.

“Hey! Hermann!”

Newton bounded over and greeted him with a hug. Hermann pulled back and regarded his date’s outfit: a blue button-down and a cream-colored vest.

“I blame the Drift,” Hermann muttered. Newt just laughed and squeezed his hand.

“I didn’t expect you to be late, man. Were you picking out your outfit?”

They walked out the door hand in hand. “As a matter of fact…” A few J-Techs gave them knowing smiles, but not malicious ones. People kept congratulating them, but on their relationship rather than their contribution to saving the world. Apparently everyone had known that they were perfect for each other. Hermann just wish someone had told him a few years before.

“It was worth the wait. You look great.” Newt smiled up at Hermann, and Hermann felt warmth bloom across his chest. They had only just started to move out of insults as a form of compliment. “For a grandpa, that is.” Well. Maybe not.

“Continue on like that and you can consider my part of the date cancelled,” Hermann said with mock annoyance. He smiled to let Newt know that he wasn’t serious. Honestly, the best part of dating was that they fought marginally less.

“Aw, Hermann, puh-lease!” Newt whined. He instantly dropped the argument as his mind moved onto the next thing. He had his phone out and was tapping it impatiently. “Come on, come on.”

“I’m sure hitting your phone will make the taxi arrive faster.” Hermann looked past Newt and onto the loading zone in the back of the Shatterdome, which had quieted down this time of night. There were still a few trucks trundling across, but the moving teams had quit for the weekend. Equipment and staff had to be packed up and moved all across the world. They would start transporting the Jaegers soon—but no, Hermann wasn’t going to think about that right now. It was the weekend. He was on a date.

“We’ll know that society has resumed when they get Uber up in here,” Newt muttered. “I’ll add it to my to-do list. That’s what they’ll remember me for, bringing Uber back. Ah-ha!”

A red taxi pulled up to the door. The driver, a Filipinx, rolled the window down and pulled their electronic cigarette out of their mouth.

“Newton Geiszler?” they asked.

“That’s me,” said Newt happily. He opened the door for Hermann. “You’ll have to give the address, Herm, I still don’t know where we’re going.”

Hermann tucked his cane under his arm and dragged himself inside the cab. “That’s because it’s a surprise, Newton.” To the driver he said, “The building on Wong Hang Road, please.” He gave an uncharacteristic wink to the driver, who nodded and tossed their e-cig onto the passenger seat.

“Right you are.”

In doing his research for this date, Hermann had read that the Hong Kong Ocean Park was one of the first complexes to go during Reckoner’s attack. Thousands of valuable fish species were lost, and the entire park was ruined. In the ten years since then, it had been rebuilt as a much smaller aquarium and memorial to the lives lost to Reckoner. You could find similar memorials all over the city - Hong Kong had been attacked 6 times over the course of the Kaiju-Human war. Very few families had been left unaffected.

Newt must have known some of this history, for he caught on when they started driving down the road to the aquarium. He turned to Hermann and grabbed his arm.

“Are you serious, dude?” he exclaimed. “An aquarium? I keep meaning to come here but I haven’t had the time!” He sat back in the seat with a stunned expression on his face. “Man. My dinner plans seem boring in comparison now.” He glanced sideways at Hermann and elbowed him lightly in the ribs. “Actually, that’ll be perfect for you.”

Hermann, lost in thought, hardly heard the teasing. “I’m glad you’re excited, Newton. I’m afraid I’ll have to put a bit of a damper on the evening. It’s quite a large facility and I won’t be able to get around all of it in one night. Nevertheless, I wanted to bring you here. I hope we’ll still enjoy some of it.”

“What? No, of course. I wouldn’t make you walk around a whole aquarium. Especially not when my dinner thing kinda depends on you not getting too tired.”

That was certainly intriguing. Hermann hoped that Newton would be accommodating (God knows he could be unbelievably inconsiderate on a bad day), but things had changed. Ever since they had started dating, arguments had meant more. They had hurt before, but now the two of them knew that one good argument in the middle of the week might ruin a date.

There was a bit of a verbal scuffle about who was going to pay, but eventually Hermann paid the poor cab driver and got both of them out the door with a minimum of swear words. He hustled them through the ticket line and paid for their entrance fees while Newt vibrated excitedly beside him.

“Is there a place in the aquarium with a lot of benches?” Hermann asked the man selling them their tickets. He didn’t usually ask this, and Newt was being so impatient, but he didn’t want to get burnt out before the night had even started. Newton looked at the desk attendant long enough to say,

“Nice tie,” before he went back to staring all around the lobby in wonder. Hermann had never had a child, but he imagined it was something akin to dating Newton Geiszler.

“Sure!” enthused the young attendant. His tie, featuring fish playing saxophones, was really quite something. He pulled out a portable map and unfolded it. “The whole Tunnel is ADA accessible. The Aquatic Mammal wing has a lot of benches as well. You can keep this map. It’s got every gender-neutral bathroom marked, along with food and the rest area.”

“Rest area?” Hermann raised an eyebrow. “Are people liable to need that?”

The young man laughed. “It’s a pretty big complex. Nowhere near as big as the old theme park, but it’s nice for families and people with sensory issues.”

“We may be availing ourselves of that, then,” said Hermann. “Thank you.” He tucked the map into his jacket pocket. “Come along, Newton. You’d like to see some fish, wouldn’t you?”

“I’m not a dog, Hermann,” said Newton, but his assertion was somewhat ruined by his seconds-later outburst of “Ooh! Anemones!”

Luckily, the Tunnel was close to the entrance, and served as a welcoming hall that fed into the rest of the facility. On their way to it, Newton suddenly walked behind Hermann and switched to his left side.

“Newton, what on earth are you—” Hermann’s confusion gave way to warmth as Newt took his hand.

“Not much of a date is it if we don’t hold hands, is it?” he asked with that cheeky, Newton grin. Hermann found himself grinning back.

“No, it isn’t,” he admitted.

A few seconds later they had entered the hall. It was dark and blue. All around them, above and on both sides, was a cylindrical fish tank that went on further than could be seen from the door. Hermann instantly knew he had made the right decision in bringing Newton there. Fish and sea life of every kind swam alongside them and above their heads.

Newt actually giggled next to Hermann. He squeezed his hand. “This is amazing. I can’t believe it took me this long to get here. And this tunnel! It’s kind of like in _Ponyo_.”

They made their way down the hall, slowly so that Newt could look around and so Hermann didn’t get tired.

“I’m afraid I don’t understand the reference,” Hermann said. Newt stopped dead.

“Hermann, please tell me you’ve seen a Studio Ghibli film,” he said flatly.

“Ah, those,” said Hermann with some relief. Newt was always saying things like “You’ve heard of Nightcore, right?” and “Hermann, don’t tell me you don’t know who the Avengers are.” It was nice to actually understand a reference for once. Even if he hadn’t seen any of the animated films.

“I don’t think you’ll be offended by any of the films,” said Newt. “You might even find yourself enjoying them. Oh my gosh, Hermann, look at these jellyfish!”

Newt ran over and pressed his face up against the glass. Hermann caught up with him and they watched the swarm dance their way through the water on fronds that seemed to light up with electricity. Their bells were tall and translucent.

“They’re box jellyfish,” Newt said breathlessly. Hermann recognized the tone of voice as “about to info-dump”. He smiled and watched Newt’s face. The man was the most attractive when his face was lit up with excitement. “These jellyfish are some of the most poisonous in the world. They mainly live in the South Pacific region. Did you know that when a bunch of jellyfish get together, they’re called a bloom? I think that’s beautiful.”

 _I think you’re beautiful_ , is what Hermann didn’t say. That would have been too sappy and Newt would’ve laughed. Instead he said, “That’s very interesting. Are you sure you’re not just reading off a plaque?”

“Nah, man.” Newt kept looking up at the water with childish wonder. “Marine biology was my gateway drug into K-Sci. I wrote one of my dissertations on manta rays.”  
Light filtered blue through the water and shone on Newt’s skin. He leaned into the glass like he wanted to push through it and swim with some extremely poisonous jellyfish. He looked over at Hermann and noticed his lovestruck expression.

“What?” he said with a little laugh.

“Can—can I kiss you?” Hermann asked softly.

“Dude, yes!” Newt turned to face him fully and took his face gently, far more gently than Hermann had expected. Their lips came together and suddenly Hermann was kissing Newton Geiszler, in front of God and the sea life and everyone.

They broke apart for air but kept their heads close. “Thank you for asking,” Newt whispered. His eyes were sparkling, and a dream of Hermann’s that he didn’t even know he had was fulfilled: Newt was looking at him like he looked at sea life. “That was nice. Can we do it again?”

They did, longer this time and with a bit of experimenting with mouth opening.

“I’m glad the jellyfish got you excited, too,” Newt panted. Hermann rolled his eyes.

“It wasn’t the _jellyfish_ , Newton.”

“Wait, wait, wait, hang on.” Newt waved his hands and pointed to himself. “Me?” he asked, feigning ignorance. “Me? I got you all hot and bothered?”

“Well, it was you I made out with and not a jellyfish, right?” Hermann said drily.

Newt threw back his head and laughed. “Oh my god, I would love to get pictures of that.” He suddenly turned serious. “Don’t kiss a jellyfish, though. That’d be incredibly dangerous. I cannot stress this enough, Herm. Don’t do it. Did you know that Otachi had tentacles kinda like a jellyfish…?”

They spent about an hour there, most of it in the Tunnel at one bench while Newt delivered an impassioned and actually fairly interesting lecture on the anatomy of manta ray stingers. At the end of it, he checked the time on his phone.

“I just want to let you know, I was very responsible and made a dinner reservation.” He made a face. “Unfortunately, it’s in half an hour and it’s going to take us that long to get to the restaurant.”  
Hermann put both hands on his cane and hauled himself up. “Not to worry. I’ll call a cab this time. You look around a little more and I’ll let you know when it’s almost here. Shouldn’t take too long for me to get to the door.”

Newt was distracted again by some kind of electric fish. “Yeah, sure. Thanks. We’ll have to come again earlier in the day. I wanna see more of this place.”

Hermann leaned on a railing in order to face Newt and capture more of his attention. “You do feel like you got enough time here, right? I mean, I did pay for a full admission.”

Newt looked at him and laughed. “What? No, don’t worry about it. Seeing some admittedly very cool jellyfish are way below making you comfortable on my priority list.”

Hermann brushed his fingers over Newt’s knuckles. “That’s very kind of you to say,” he murmured.

“Have you ever known me to not be kind?” Newt’s mouth twisted into a frown as soon as he’d said it.

“Well, a few instances spring to mind—” Hermann began.

“It was rhetorical, Mr. Literal-Minded,” Newt shot back. “Should we go?”

“Yes, all right,” Hermann said with a smirk.

In the next cab, the question of who was going to pay the fare came up. Rather, the assertion by both parties that _they_ were going to pay came up. On one side was Newton, saying that it was his part of the date now, and anyway, Hermann had already paid for one cab fare that night. One the other side was Hermann saying that Newt was going to end up paying more for the dinner anyway. It culminated in Newt shouting,

“You can leave your pre-conceived heteronormative bullshit out of this, Hermann—”

“How can I be heteronormative, Newton? We’re _on a date_!” Hermann shouted back. Where once he would have felt vindicated, or at least justifiably put-out after a fight, now Hermann was just feeling sick and regretful. You could fight like this with your lab partner, but you shouldn’t fight like this with your romantic partner, especially not in front of some cab driver who was getting an earful of the entire conversation.

“Hare and Spoon,” the cab driver in question announced as he pulled to a stop in front of a restaurant with a British-style pub façade. “As long as one of you pays…”

Newt folded his arms and looked away. “You can pay. Jesus. I don’t care. I could literally care less.”

Hermann swiped his card and signed his digital signature with a flourish. As soon as he got out of the cab and got a good look at the restaurant, his animosity evaporated. It really was a British pub, smack dab in the middle of the Hong Kong neon. Newt was looking at him with an expression that said _I’m not seeking approval, but if some came my way I wouldn’t say no to it._

“How did you find this place, Newt?” Hermann asked with a disbelieving laugh. Newt sheepishly stuck his hands in his pockets.

“Oh, you know. Googled ‘British restaurants in Hong Kong’. Read some Yelp reviews. Got over my phone anxiety to call and make a reservation. Nothing, really. Actually, literally nothing. But I did check their monthly schedule and on Friday nights they have…”

He opened the door for Hermann, and the sounds of live music washed over them.

“A live band and swing dancing.”

Hermann just stood with his mouth open. Newt leaned against the window and banged his forehead. “You don’t like it. I’m sorry, I just—I know you like big band music and when I saw that they had this I thought it’d be perfect—plus you’re always going on about the time you spent in Britain with your dad and—okay, not going on about, you don’t actually mention it that much, but you sure act British so I thought it’d be a good venue—”

Hermann grabbed him around the waist and snuck a kiss onto his cheek. “Newton. Please shut up. It is perfect and I’m very glad you brought us here. I’m sorry about the fight.”

Newt straightened up and snuggled in close, far too intimate for Hermann’s comfort with a hostess staring at them. “What fight? Can I get another kiss?”

“Are you Mr. Geiszler?” the hostess asked a little loudly.

Newt disentangled himself. “Dr. Geiszler, actually, six times over, but yes, that’s me. Table for two, right?”

They were led to their table, on a raised platform that overlooked the circular dance floor. Most of the patrons were white, which made sense, although the band looked to be entirely Chinese. They were currently playing an instrumental version of “Stormy Weather”, accompanying a few swaying couples. Hermann watched them for a bit until Newton cleared his throat.

“Yep, this sure is British food,” he said. Hermann looked over at him, and Newt rustled his menu meaningfully. “You probably already know you’re going to get spotted dick or something, but you should at least look at this menu. If only to laugh at some of the translations.”

“Spotted dick is a dessert, Newton,” said Hermann primly. Newt snorted behind his menu.

“Ha, ha. I made you say ‘dick’.”

Hermann smacked him on the head with his menu and they dissolved into laughter. They were still giggling when the waiter came to take their drink orders. They both ended up getting fish and chips, because according to Newt, it was the “only edible British food”. Hermann privately agreed. The food had not been his favorite part about living in England.

The band switched to an upbeat song that instantly drew more people to the dance floor. Hermann smiled faintly and tapped his foot with the beat.

“I know this one, right?” Newt asked. “This is on your Big Band playlist, when I let you play it. What’s it called? ‘Big Mood’?”

“’In the Mood’,” Hermann corrected absentmindedly. He was watching a young couple taking over the dance floor. The woman had a big flowy skirt on that kept flying above her waist as she kicked and spun. The man’s footwork really was excellent.

Newt leaned forward. “D’you wanna dance, Hermann?”

Hermann stopped staring. “What?” Newt was looking at him with a completely earnest expression. Hermann sat up straight and said stiffly, “As I think you well know, Newton, my leg does not allow me to move like that.”

Newt’s face fell a little, but Hermann could tell he was still trying to look cheery. “Aw, come on. You can turn on the spot and sway, right? We don’t have to do the Charleston or anything. I did kinda bring us here to dance.”

Hermann resumed eating his meal. “Well, I’m tired, anyway.” He knew he was being childish. The truth was he really did want to dance – he always had – but didn’t want to settle for just turning on the spot. If Hermann Gottlieb was going to do something, he was going to do it well.

“Mkay, dude. Whatever you want. I’m not gonna pressure you.” Newt rapidly changed the subject, which for once Hermann appreciated. Their food came, and while they ate Newt explained the plot of all the Studio Ghibli films (“Just the Miyazaki ones, those are the best”) and tried to determine which one Hermann would like best. Hermann wasn’t really following it. He was full, and he was on a date, and a live band was playing Count Basie. He didn’t feel content very often, even after the apocalypse was averted, but this was definitely it. He might even bump it up to “happy”.

“Start with _My Neighbor Totoro_ , definitely,” said a familiar voice. Newt and Hermann looked up to see Mako Mori standing at their table.

“Mako!” Newt exclaimed. “Ah, of course you’d like _Totoro_. That’s the one I was leaning towards.”

“Hello, Miss Mori,” Hermann greeted her warmly. “How nice to see you here.”

They didn’t see Mako often – she was busy running the PPDC with Marshal Hansen. She had re-dyed the stripe in her hair and was dressed smartly in a gray pantsuit. She looked tired, but happy.

Mako indicated over her shoulder towards the bar. “Raleigh and I are on a date. They finally let us out for the night. Sensei brought me here a few times, so I thought Raleigh might like it. He’s complained about British food the whole time.” She giggled.

“Oh, are you two dating?” Newt asked innocently. Hermann kicked him under the table. Not only was Newt up to date on all the Shatterdome gossip, he was the source of most of it.

“Not in the traditional sense,” Mako said with a secretive smile, “but we’re happy.” She turned to wave, and at the bar a distant muscly figure waved back.

“You can bring Mr. Beckett over here if you’d like,” said Hermann politely, although all three of them knew that wasn’t the best idea. Even after saving the world, Newt didn’t like Raleigh, though the source of this Hermann couldn’t fathom. Newt had once muttered something along the lines of “high school jock”, and evidently being drift compatible with Mako wasn’t enough to save him from that. Hermann rather admired the man, and wasn’t ashamed to admit it. Still, he didn’t admit it around Newt. It was no secret that Hermann had always wanted to be a ranger, but he had rather contributed a lot, what with programming jaegers and discovering the secrets of the breach and all.

“We’re leaving soon,” said Mako carefully, “but thank you. Are you two going to dance?”

“Maybe—” Newt said at the same time as Hermann said,

“Regrettably, no.”

“That’s all right,” said Mako. “Raleigh didn’t want to either.”

Newt made a rather rude noise into his fries that sounded like a snort, but Hermann and Mako made eye contact and pointedly ignored it.

“I’m sure we’ll run into each other again,” Mako said. “Maybe even here. You and I can dance then, Newt.”

“Yeah, save a dance for me!” Newt waved a ketchup-soaked fry at her. She gave him a fond if tired smile, winked at Hermann, and made her way back across the restaurant.

“Poor Mako,” Hermann said once she was out of earshot.

“Yeah, being tied to that guy,” said Newt absently. “What?”

“I mean losing the marshal,” said Hermann with an eye roll. “That poor woman has lost all the parents she’s ever known. _And_ they’re working her to the bone with all the planning and reconstruction.”

“I think she’s working herself to the bone,” Newton said with his mouth full. “She’s always been like that. You know her. Once she gets hyper-fixated on something…But anyway, I hope she knows she’s got the whole Shatterdome as family. Everybody loves her. They sure like her more than that Beckett guy. He’s still the new kid in these parts, even if he did help save the world or something. Mako’s one of our own.”

“Maybe leave Ranger Beckett alone for tonight,” said Hermann without any subtlety whatsoever. “I don’t understand what you have against that man.”

“It would take too long to explain,” sighed Newt. “Have you ever seen a John Hughes film? Or a Disney channel original movie?”

“I try not to,” said Hermann drily.

“Yeah, sometimes I wish I hadn’t either,” said Newt. He took on a thousand-yard stare that may or may not have been genuine. “Waiter! Can I get another beer?”

Well, Hermann wasn’t driving home. He ordered another beer too.

“Last song!” the band leader called out. The night was winding down and the restaurant was mostly empty. Fittingly, the last song was a slow one.

“’Moonlight Serenade’,” Hermann murmured. He was feeling full, and drowsy on alcohol.

“It’s nice,” said Newt. He stood up and offered Hermann a hand. Hermann just stared at him. “I know you want to, babe, come on!”  
Hermann’s mouth dropped open. “Babe?!” he spluttered.

“Her-mann,” Newt whined. He flapped his arm. “We can put the pet name ideas to a committee later. I’m trying to have a moment here and you are _ruining_ it.”

Hermann couldn’t help but smile at Newt’s full-body flopping. “All right,” he grumbled, and took Newt’s hand.

“Yeah!” He let Newt haul him up and out onto the dance floor. They were easily the youngest couple by twenty years. Newt pulled him very close, and Hermann’s breath hitched. Newt seemed to notice and grinned at him.

“You can hang your cane on your arm, you aren’t going to need it for this part,” he said. “Here, put your bad foot on mine. I’ll put my arm around my waist like this to support you. See? No cane needed.”

Newt had evidently decided he was leading, but that was fine by Hermann. He was too distracted by the fact that he was spending several full minutes in his boyfriend’s (he was capable of at least _thinking_ the word) arms. They swayed gently, just as Newt had promised. It might have been the alcohol, but suddenly needing to be the best at dancing didn’t matter as much.

“This way I get to look in your eyes,” said Newt, and it was somehow the most romantic thing he’d said all night. Maybe even the most romantic thing he’d ever said to Hermann, because excited babblings about “dude, you blow my mind in all the right ways” didn’t quite cut it.

“It’s a little difficult to follow when you’re shorter than me,” Hermann complained, but it was half-hearted at best. Newt’s arm was around his waist, his hand was on Newt’s shoulder, and their hands were clasped. His leg hurt, but it always hurt. It was actually okay swinging from his hip. He let himself lean into Newt.

“I could do this more often,” he said into Newt’s ear.

“Yeah?” He could hear the smile in Newt’s voice. “I’d like that.”

On the cab ride back, Hermann successfully argued that he should pay for both cab rides because the aquarium tickets hadn’t cost nearly as much as dinner. He suspected that Newt was too tired to argue, but all was fair in love (and they’d had enough war to last a lifetime). They rested their heads on each other’s shoulders in the backseat, their pinkies intertwined on the seat between them.

 

“This was really nice,” said Newt sleepily. “When—when—” he yawned. “When’s the next one?”

“Next one? I’ve got to let my bank account recover from this one,” Hermann chuckled.

Newt lifted his head briefly. “Dude, we just talked about how my net loss was more than yours tonight. I don’t know if you remember. It was a whole thing.”

“Well, perhaps we can do something in the lab,” Hermann said. “We can prepare food on that disgusting hot plate of yours, and I’ll play the Big Band playlist if you let me.”

“More swing dancing.” Newt pumped a fist in the air lazily. “We’ll get you dancing the Charleston yet.”

“I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to do that,” Hermann said. He did know. It wasn’t possible. But it was a nice thought.

“Dancing is good physical therapy,” said Newt. He sounded as if he was just about asleep. “I looked it up.”

“Well, I’ll have to look into that more.”

The Shatterdome had fully closed for the night, so the furthest the cab driver could go was the front gate. Hermann let Newt help him out of the car, which he wouldn’t normally do, but his leg was killing him. He might have to do all his work sitting down tomorrow.

They made it to the main gate before Newt said,

“Whoa, Herm, your limp is way worse than usual. Do you want me to get one of those golf cart things and pick you up? I’ve always wanted to drive one—”

“I’ll be fine if I can just…get to the elevator.” He gritted his teeth, but smiled at Newt to let him know he wasn’t irritated. Just in pain. It had been a wonderful night and he didn’t regret a thing. (Except maybe the fight.)

“Okay,” said Newt, but he didn’t sound convinced. He signed them in with his clearance card. As they waited for the gate to open, he said, “Will you at least lean on me? I’m worried you’re gonna collapse.”

“I am not going to collapse,” Hermann assured him, “but I wouldn’t refuse a hand.”

Newt slipped an arm around his waist and put a hand on his elbow. Hermann leaned into him and was able to get almost all his weight off his bad leg. He sighed with relief.

“Isn’t this nice?” Newt said, his mouth right by Hermann’s ear.

“Yes,” Hermann admitted. “If a little un-dignified.”

They made their way slowly to the elevator. Hermann was starting to regret saying no to a golf cart. Newt suddenly kissed him on the temple. “So is ‘babe’ okay?”

Hermann grimaced. “ _Also_ undignified. It just sounds immature. Like we’re college boyfriends.”

“But it’s cute!” They entered the elevator. Newt pulled Hermann to face him. He wove a hand through Hermann’s hair. “Dear?” He kissed him on the mouth, long and sweet. “Darling?” He traced kisses down Hermann’s jawline and to his neck. “Sweetheart?”

“Sweetheart I could live with.” Hermann grabbed the back of Newt’s vest and let Newt tilt his head up to expose his collarbone. “Maybe dear and darling when we’re thirty years older.”  
“I like imagining us in thirty years.” Newt moved his hand down Hermann’s lower back, and Hermann grabbed his hand to pull it back up. “Although you already act pretty old.”

“Rude.” Newt started nibbling at Hermann’s ear. The noise that Hermann made was certainly undignified. “Mein Gott, _Newton_ —”

“Ooh, I made you slip into German. I wonder if I can do it again?”

The elevator suddenly dinged and the doors slid open. There was no one to see them snogging each other’s faces – that would have been the icing on the cake – but the ding jolted Hermann back to his senses. Underneath the make-out adrenaline, he was very tired. He stumbled as Newt pulled him out of the elevator. Newt put an arm around his waist again and they leaned comfortably on each other.

“So…whose room am I taking you back to?” Newt asked casually.

Something icy, like fear or excitement, shot through Hermann’s veins.

“I—I—” he stammered, and tripped over his cane.

“Whoa.” Newt steadied him. “I’m sorry, was that too forward?”

“It wasn’t—forward. That’s the kind of—of thing that b-boyfriends ask.” He cursed himself for stammering. He hadn’t done this in so long, and had never been very good at it anyway.

“No, no, no.” Newt stopped in the middle of the hallway. It was late, and no one was around except for a janitor and her cart squeaking around the corner. Hermann watched Newt’s face as he struggled to form his words. Hermann wasn’t the only one.

“Hermann, I may have said some shitty things to you in the past. But I would never be shitty about this. I want you to be comfortable, and if that means we wait another 10 years to progress, then okay. I’ll wait for you, Hermann.” He moved a hand up to the back of Hermann’s neck and squeezed. “We waited this long, right?”  
Hermann turned and pressed his forehead against Newt’s.

“Right,” he whispered.

“Okay.”

Newt gently tugged him and they resumed walking down the hall. With the scaling down of the Shatterdome staff and spending less time in the lab, both doctors had been moved from the storage areas behind their workspace to actual rooms. Hermann hadn’t fully unpacked yet, as he wasn’t sure how long he’d be there. He certainly didn’t want Newt to see. Newt expected him to be neat and tidy, not living out of boxes. He wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.

They neared Hermann’s door, and Hermann started to pull away from Newt.

“You can drop me off here,” he said. Newt looked at him with concern.

“At least let me take you up to your door.”

Hermann sighed. “All right,” he conceded.

Newt waited while he found his key and then leaned against the open doorframe, trying to look as suave as one short scientist with post-make out hair could.

“We really must do this again sometime,” he said. “And maybe more often than Fridays?” He looked past Hermann into his room, which contained the entire summary of his life in boxes. He suddenly sighed and slumped against the doorframe. “What’s gonna happen to us, Herm? They’re moving people around so much already—where are we gonna go?”

“This is the alcohol talking, isn’t it?” Hermann said, but the laugh he added just felt hollow. “Listen, dear. Now is not the time, but I’ll say this: we’re rock stars. We helped save the world. If we’re not kept together, I’ll raise up such a fuss that they’ll station us in the same place just to shut me up. And if they don’t, I’ll quit and join the private sector like I’ve always threatened.”

“I’ll follow you, then,” said Newt with a grin. “Just you and me, raising a ruckus and doing some science.”  
“I’d kiss to that.”

It was a long goodnight kiss, considering how tired they were, but they had earned it, after all.

 


End file.
